BEST VALUE: Jaume Serra Cristalino Cava Extra Dry, NV, Spain. $5.99 to $6.99; widely available. From the panel: We tasted several excellent sparklers — some that we’d prefer over this one if we sipped them all solo — but this refreshing, budget bubbly worked the best with the fried chicken.

Louis Tête Moulin-à-Vent 2011, France. $18.99; Central Market, Pogo’s. Although panelists preferred whites with the chicken, they found this red, from the top tier of Beaujolais estates, to be a good choice for red-wine drinkers.

There’s nothing wrong with any of those pairings — in fact Champagne is a dynamite, if pricey, partner for fried chicken. But the wine panel had a modest wine budget in mind for this home-style dish. This month, we searched for wines costing less than $20 to go with some terrific takeout fried chicken.

We picked up our chicken from Bubba’s Cooks Country in Dallas. It’s the drive-through sibling of Babe’s Chicken Dinner House, which has nine locations. Fans of Babe’s will be glad to know that Bubba’s uses the same classic family recipe for crispy-fried chicken.

We tasted 23 wines, from inexpensive sparklers to elegant whites and a few fruity light reds, to find the best matches for our fried feast. Salty in a good way, the chicken’s rich and savory skin welcomed wines that had zippy acidity and a little residual sugar. Even if you’re not fond of sipping a semidry (slightly sweet) style of white wine solo, give it a chance with this chicken.

Our favorite match was a demi-sec Vouvray, a pairing that pushed all the right buttons on the palate. Some of our favorite food wines didn’t work because of their richness or textural mismatches. Read on for five wines that make our favorite fried chicken worthy of a dinner party.

THE TASTERS:

Blythe Beck, chef

Paul Botamer, sommelier and wine director at Fearing’s at the Ritz-Carlton, Dallas

Adelsheim was one of the first producers of pinot gris outside of Europe, planting cuttings from Alsace (via the University of California at Davis) in the Willamette Valley over 40 years ago. This wine is crisp and clean, with pear and apple flavors, and a creamy texture. “It’s on par texturally with the chicken,” James Tidwell said. “It doesn’t have as much acidity as the Kung Fu Girl Riesling, but it’s a safe choice for a big group.” Paul Botamer found the wine a great match for the creamy coleslaw and mashed potatoes.

Kung Fu Girl Riesling 2012, Washington

$10.99 to $11.99; widely available

This Columbia Valley riesling is a great value from Charles Smith Wines. It shows ripe fruit, a slight sweetness, good acidity and more complexity than you’d expect for a wine at this price. “I like the match. The ripeness of the fruit counteracts the salt in the chicken,” Botamer said. Hunter Hammett found the wine to have just enough sweetness to work with the dish. “The rich texture of the wine matches the oiliness of the chicken,” he added. Tidwell praised the wine’s acidity. “It cuts through the lovely fattiness of the crispy chicken skin, and the bright-citrus quality livens the whole dish up. It’s delicious,” he said. Overall, a great match, especially for the money.

BEST VALUE: Jaume Serra Cristalino Cava Extra Dry, NV, Spain

$5.99 to $6.99; widely available

We tasted several excellent sparklers — some that we’d prefer over this one if we sipped them all solo — but this refreshing, budget bubbly worked the best with the fried chicken. “It has a masculine characteristic to it. The yeasty quality works with the dish,” Courtney Luscher said. Hammett agreed, calling it “an assertive-style sparkler.” Botamer liked the wine’s bubbly, palate-cleansing quality and apple flavors, which contrasted with the salty chicken. “There’s something naughty about having sparkling wine with fried chicken. It’s a yin-yang kind of match,” Blythe Beck said. “It cuts through the fat in the dish, and elevates the dining experience.”

This single-vineyard Vouvray from the Loire Valley is a demi-sec (semidry) wine with lively acidity and a rich texture. “It’s a hit,” Botamer said. “It’s well-balanced, the acidity cuts through the richness, and there’s just enough fruit and residual sugar. The sweetness works well with the fatty, salty chicken.” Tidwell hailed this wine as a “spot-on Vouvray” and a good value. “The wine has all the textbook components you look for when pairing with fried chicken: sweeter fruit, acidity and body,” Luscher said. Hammett added that the wine’s honeyed note complemented the roll as well as the chicken.

Louis Tête Moulin-à-Vent 2011, France

$18.99; Central Market, Pogo’s

Although panelists preferred whites with the chicken, they found this red, from the top tier of Beaujolais estates, to be a good choice for red-wine drinkers. Hammett chalked up this red’s success to its acidity, softer tannins and the freshness of the red plum fruit. Botamer and Tidwell noted that the ripeness of the fruit made it a candidate for the chicken. “With a little chill on it, it has a refreshing quality. As a cooler wine, it makes a good choice for a red,” Luscher said.